SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/842100
SXSW.COM | M A R C H 2 0 1 7 M U S I C | SXS W O R L D 2 5 May It Last, photo by Jonathan Furmanski The Big Sick, photo by Nicole Rivelli to do a film project with the band, Rubin suggested that Apatow film recording sessions that were about to start for the Avetts' 2016 album True Sadness. Apatow enlisted Bonfiglio (with whom he made the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Doc & Darryl) as co-director, and in early 2014, they began what turned into two-and-a-half years of filming. While the genesis of True Sadness provided the framework, May It Last is hardly a conventional mak- ing-of-an-album documentary, and it covers a particularly momentous stretch for the band's members. Over the course of filming, both Scott and Seth Avett had children; cellist Joe Kwon got married; bassist Bob Crawford's family was still dealing with his young daughter's malig- nant brain tumor; and the Avett Brothers had their first-ever gold record. "It was a true labor of love, and we were fortunate to be able to spend so much time on it," says Bonfiglio. "It became kind of a meditation on the passage of time and how life unfolds. The making-of-an-album part was the bones of it, but what's more interesting is the people and their lives and how they interact, and how that relates to all of us." The filmmakers had total access, to the point that the only thing they weren't allowed to film was a private conversation about band finances. The result is an inti- mate portrait that captures many unguarded moments. The usually reserved Seth Avett is shown talking with surprising openness about his divorce (the subject of the True Sadness song "Divorce Separation Blues"). And in a remarkable sequence toward the end, Scott Avett grows almost angry while agonizing about the dark side of the creativity-versus-commerce dilemma. "Ever since Seth and I started recording, there always comes a moment when I'm completely fatigued, and I've just had it," Scott Avett says. "At those moments, I am extremely vulnerable about anything that feels like a jab at my creative integrity. On a balanced, healthy day, I embrace the need for both art and commerce. But there are other moments that just peel everything down to where I'm completely vulnerable and all is revealed. At first, I had hoped that scene would not be in there. And when I saw it the first time, I kind of wanted to apolo- gize because I looked so grumpy and taken down and defeated. But at the end, I get it. That had to be in there." Both Apatow and Bonfiglio point to the rapport between Scott and Seth Avett—blood brothers and artistic partners who actually get along, in contrast to the rock-band cliché of warring-sibling bandmates—as the center of May It Last. From outside, the dynamic seems almost too good to be true. But it's sincere, and as real as the friendships that The Big Sick and other Apatow projects seem to grow out of. "I feel like the world is a very cynical place filled with snark, so I appreciate the Avetts' sincerity and humanity," Apatow says. "They write about a lot of ideas I care about—people attempting to get through this complicated life and make connections, find love, make love work. They're about being human, and everything that entails. They have some funny songs, too, but I generally appre- ciate their directness. A lot of my work is about using humor to find a side way into expressing something. So I like how clear and open they can be." The Big Sick screens today (Thursday, March 16) at the Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave) at 3:15pm, and on Friday, March 17 at ZACH Theatre (1510 Toomey Rd) at 11:30am. May It Last screens on Friday at ZACH Theatre at 3pm. Check schedule.sxsw.com or the SXSW GO app for the latest updates. "They write about a lot of ideas I care about—people attempting to get through this complicated life and make connections … "